As the provider of steam for the on-site Lyondell Chemical Company outside of Houston, Altura Cogen operates more like a base load plant and can produce up to 600 megawatts of power.

In early 2007, PNM Resources and a subsidiary of Cascade Investment, L.L.C., formed EnergyCo, an unregulated generation company operating in the competitive Texas market. Today, it is known as Optim Energy and is PNM Resources' vehicle for expansion in competitive markets like the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. For Cascade, a Seattle-based, private-equity firm whose sole member is Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Optim Energy provides the opportunity to widen its investment in the energy industry. Already one of our largest shareholders, Cascade is familiar with PNM Resources' management and has supported the company's efforts to grow. Cascade invested $100 million to help fund PNM Resources' 2005 acquisition of TNP Enterprises.

Optim Energy owns and operates Twin Oaks, a 305-megawatt, lignite-fired power plant in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas North zone, and Altura Cogen, a 600-megawatt, natural-gas fired cogeneration facility in the Houston zone.

Cedar Bayou 4, a 550-megawatt, natural-gas fired, combined-cycle facility, also is located in the Houston zone and is jointly owned by Optim Energy and NRG Energy. Cedar Bayou 4, which reached commercial operation in June 2009, is the newest addition to Optim Energy’s generating fleet.